Animal pictures of the week: 7 December 2012

Monty sits in the driver's seat behind the wheel while training. Rather than chasing cars, dogs in New Zealand are being taught to drive them - steering, pedals and all - in a project aimed at increasing pet adoptions from animal shelters. Animal trainer Mark Vette has spent two months training three cross-breed rescue dogs from the Auckland SPCA to drive a modified Mini as a way of proving that even unwanted canines can be taught to perform complex tasks.Picture: SDraftFCB/AFP/Getty Images